10 years and counting! Back in the summer of 2001, two like-minded Cork men Haulie Keane & Alan Lomasney decided to set up an Irish club for Irish VW owners and enthusiasts...........VAGE was born!

Not being men to rest on their laurels, Haulie and Alan then decided to hold the inaugural VAGE Annual Show…with under two months to organise it! The first show was held in Ballyvourney in Co. Cork and was a great success, with over 70 cars on display. A simple, straightforward show ‘n’ shine format was employed; you showed up on the day, shined up your car (hangover permitting - VAGE shows fall on a Sunday) and then took a stroll around the show venue, viewing the other cars on display, browsing the trade stands, or grabbing a bite to eat. Since 2001, the show has been held annually in the People’s Republic of Cork. Venues for the show since 2003 have been in Midleton (2003), and in Fermoy from 2006 to present……the show, now popularly known as the ‘Fermoy’ show instead of the ‘VAGE Annual Show ‘n’ Shine’, attracts almost 300 cars on display every year the show also features a number of companies’ trade-stands, offering their goods and services to the VAG community in Ireland. 

VAGE was set up as a club for a number of reasons….        

• To build on the social side of the VAG scene,        
• To organise regular meets and spins throughout the country,         
• To provide support and advice for our members on car upkeep and restoration/repair,        
• To organise trips to shows as a club, both in Ireland and abroad.         
• To negotiate deals and discounts for our members with companies who cater for VAG group vehicles,         
• To provide and maintain a website which our members can have access to, for info and for selling surplus car parts or cars.

We all feel that this approach works very well – actually getting out in our cars, meeting up, having a chat, a bit of grub and a large dose of craic and all taking a spin together. There is a world of internet sites out there, that cater for our hobby, where you can sit at your pc, chat about anything VAG-related and browse pictures all day with other like-minded folk without ever meeting anyone. What we’re trying to encourage is people getting behind the wheel, meeting up face-to-face and having a bit of a laugh. This has worked very well over the last decade, and long may it continue to do so! The club gets bigger every year, with more and more people making use of what we have on offer, so what’s stopping you? Come on in! Everyone’s welcome, regardless of whether your car is new or old, standard or modified! 

Nowadays the running of the club and the website lies with a dedicated group of oil-stained petrolhead’s……Paul Carroll, our club chairman, who has owned (and broken) more old GTi’s than he cares to mention, Danny Healy, club secretary extraordinaire who likes to hoard rare car parts, Donie Browne, long-suffering club PRO and merchandising guru, original founding member Alan Lomasney, club treasurer who takes care of the finances and an extended committee of club members who help with the year-in, year-out organising and running of the annual show; Cian O’Connor, Wayne Mac, Mick Burke, Aoife Douglas, Adrian Fehily, Mark Dolan, Stiofan O’Dalaigh, Andrew Fanning & Don Burke. We’re a very friendly bunch and will always welcome volunteers and new members, so if you’d like to get involved, give us a shout via email on the contacts page.

So, there you have it, a quick sum-up of the last ten years, where VAGE comes from, what the club is about, and where we’re headed…so what’s stopping you from getting involved….fancy a spin??